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YouTube for information about side effects of biologic therapy: A social media analysis
Author(s) -
Zengin Orhan,
Onder Mustafa Erkut
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1756-185X
pISSN - 1756-1841
DOI - 10.1111/1756-185x.14003
Subject(s) - medicine , quality (philosophy) , social media , quality score , reliability (semiconductor) , side effect (computer science) , power (physics) , metric (unit) , philosophy , operations management , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , political science , computer science , law , economics , programming language
Objective Biologic therapies are one of the most significant breakthroughs in the treatment of rheumatic diseases, although there is still some uncertainty surrounding long‐term patient safety. Recently, a growing number of patients browse the Internet as a source of health‐related information. We aimed to assess the quality of information available on YouTube videos regarding the side effects of biologic therapy. Methods We used the keywords “biologic therapy side effects,” “biologic therapy risks,” “biologic therapy safety,” “biologic agents side effects,” “biologic agents risks,” and “biologic agents safety.” Also, the generic and commercial names of biologic agents were searched on YouTube in May 2020. The quality and reliability of the videos was assessed according to the global quality score (GQS), DISCERN score. Video Power Index (VPI) used to assess both the view and the like ratios of the videos. Results Seventy‐five videos were evaluated. According to the GQS, 31 videos (40.3%) were of high quality, 18 videos (23.4%) were of intermediate quality, and 28 videos (36.4%) were of low quality. The GQS was significantly positively correlated with the DISCERN score ( P < .001). VPI scores were not correlated with DISCERN ( P = .268) and GQS scores ( P = .411). Conclusion YouTube videos on the side effects of biologic therapy are informative for patients and physicians. High‐quality videos are more reliable but may not be as popular as expected.